When Matt and Cathy O’Shea decided to enlarge their Prospect Heights ranch house, they knew exactly what they wanted: a master bedroom and more room for their two kids, Mary Clare, 4, and John, 2. But when it was done and it came time to focus on the yard, the vision just wasn’t there.
“Once we finished the house, the yard didn’t match. Our front yard is a disaster. It’s a hodgepodge of different things. I’ve spent a lot of time and energy on it, but there are no results,” Cathy says.
The O’Sheas’ biggest fear is they’ll make mistakes and spend thousands of dollars on something they won’t like.
Home&Garden invited four talented local designers to give the O’Sheas the guidance and confidence needed to turn a yawn-provoking yard into a warm, inviting space.
Here’s what we told our designers:
– Create curb appeal to enhance the style of their remodeled house.
– Design an inviting space for a young family.
– Allow for gardening opportunities for the mother who enjoys flowers.
– Suggest phases that can be done as time and money permit.
When the designers had completed their assignment, the final four plans surprisingly all had a common theme: a semi-private space for spending family time in the front yard.
“The whole idea of outdoor rooms was a new concept for many people 10 years ago, but now they get it. They want the front yard to be a functioning part of the homesite,”Jan Little says.
One landscaping trend to watch: smaller lawns, fewer sheared evergreens, more ornamental shrubs, places to sit and more screening out near the curb or sidewalk.
“We’re reclaiming the front yard as a space to use and enjoy,” Amy Reynolds says.
1. An elegant entry
Jerry Milewski, landscape architect
American Gardens, Warrenville
Milewski designed a welcoming, spacious walkway to the O’Shea’s stoop. “The concrete walk was new, but they should have a more generous path leading to the front door. That’s the first thing I would change,” he says.
A sweeping brick paver path leads to an enlarged front stoop that holds chairs, a small table and potted plants. A generous foundation planting, including weigela, hydrangea, boxwood, fothergilla, viburnum and cotoneaster, extends from the house across the side yard, an area often overlooked for landscaping.
Milewski’s design keeps the Chinese elms until they must be removed. The two young ash trees are relocated. ‘Flower Carpet’ roses, ‘Gro-Low’ sumac, dwarf alpine spirea and fragrant viburnum accent a walkway
leading to the back yard. Ornamental trees include a clump honeylocust, a pagoda dogwood and a Japanese tree lilac that anchors a planting bed alongside the driveway.
Estimated cost to install (based on work being done professionally): $21,150
Average time needed to maintain (dividing perennials, pruning shrubs, deadheading during growing season, etc.): 4 hours per week
2. Garden of delight
Amy Reynolds, landscape designer
Planter’s Palette, Winfield
Reynolds updated the foundation planting with a lush, mixed border that hugs the existing walkway. “I envision a small seating area done in concrete to blend with the existing material. I wanted to provide usable space in the front yard–a space for kids to play on the grass and a space for adults to sit.”
Colorful container plantings and a bench accessorize this outdoor foyer.
Both existing Chinese elms are out. Evergreens, perennials, grasses and shrubs join ornamental trees, including a crab apple, white pine and pagoda dogwood. A low-maintenance border along the driveway uses ‘Diana’ serviceberry, hydrangea and perennial geraniums.
An island bed filled with hostas, hydrangeas, ground covers and ferns serves as a screening and labor-saving element. “I like designing front yards with layers of plants that you can enjoy year-round when you’re indoors or out,” Reynolds says.
Estimated cost to install (based on work being done professionally): $8,300
Average time needed to maintain (dividing perennials, pruning shrubs, deadheading during growing season, etc.): 5 hours per week.
3. A courtyard garden
Jan Little, landscape architect
The Morton Arboretum, Lisle
Little designed an enclosed courtyard surrounded by a low decorative picket fence and adorned with a multitude of perennials and ground covers. “This balances a sense of welcome with some sense of privacy,” she says.
The expanded seating area features a table and chairs. A sweeping bed filled with astilbe, bergenia, coral bells, corydalis, boxwood and iris surrounds the intimate seating area. A new brick paver sidewalk is enhanced with potted plants flanking the stoop.
Little relocated two young ash trees the O’Sheas planted years ago, for design reasons, and kept the existing Chinese elms. An L-shaped planting bed anchored by a huge stand of bottlebrush buckeye encloses the front yard. “It’s important to help screen the living room from car lights. This bed helps give them some relief from the lawn-mowing weekend warrior syndrome, since the existing lawn is close to 1/2 acre,” she says.
Color is provided with panicle hydrangea, fairy roses, rudbeckia, meadowsweet, sedum, Joe Pye weed, coneflower and ‘Fireworks’ goldenrod.
Estimated cost to install (based on work being done professionally): $13,900
Average time needed to maintain (dividing perennials, pruning shrubs, deadheading during growing season, etc.): 6 hours per week
4. A private retreat
Joan Barczak, landscape designer
Blumen Gardens, Sycamore
Barczak created an upfront personal space where the O’Sheas could spend time with their children yet remain out of view of passersby.
“When you came down the street, you could really see into their place. I wanted to disguise it and let them enjoy the front yard, let the kids ride their bikes and not be exposed,” says Barczak.
To do this, her plan calls for the removal of an existing Chinese elm by the driveway to increase sunlight and plant options. The design features a variety of low-maintenance shrubs that let the couple do as much gardening–or as little–as time allows.
A sweeping bed of ornamental and scented shrubs, spring-blooming serviceberries, perennials, ‘Champlain’ roses and a large drift of native grass–prairie dropseed– embraces a grassy swath where Barczak envisions impromptu picnics.
Estimated cost to install (based on work being done professionally): $5,800
Average time needed to maintain (dividing perennials, pruning shrubs, deadheading during growing season, etc.): 2 hours per week.
Controlling the fear factor means thinking in stages
Our experts devised plans that can be phased in as the O’Sheas’ budget allows. Their overall expense can be greatly reduced if they purchase and plant their own shrubs and perennials.
The couple plans to stay in the house for some time and consider the enhancement of its curb appeal a long-term investment.
A rule of thumb when it comes to landscaping: figure on investing 5 to 15 percent of your home’s value on landscaping. A $100,000 house, for example, then should have a landscape tag of $5,000 to $15,000. (Note: All estimates indicated below are based on having the work done professionally. If the homeowner buys and installs the plants, the cost will be considerably less.)
— Nina Koziol
1. An elegant entry
Phase 1: Enlarge stoop ($2,700) and replace concrete walk with a sweeping brick paver path ($3,200); total $5,900.
Phase 2: Prepare foundation beds and install most of the plants there ($5,800).
Phase 3: Continue foundation bed planting ($1,000).
Phase 4: Prepare and plant new bed on other side of brick path and relocate the two young ash trees ($2,400).
Phase 5: Prepare and plant new bed along driveway ($2,000).
Phase 6: Prepare and plant shrubs, perennials and ornamental trees in the kidney-shaped bed; plant clump honeylocust ($4,050).
KEY PLANTS
Taxus ‘Taunton’ (yew)
Slow-growing, hardy yew; 4 feet with reliable winter color. Sun/medium shade.
Cotoneaster ‘Hessei’
Arching foliage, berries and good fall color on this 1- to 2-foot plant. Sun/part shade.
Weigela ‘Midnight Wine’
Pink flowers on burgundy foliage. This compact shrub spreads 2 to 3 feet. Sun/part shade.
Viburnum ‘Autumn Jazz’
Good fall color and spring blossoms on this arrowwood viburnum. Grows 6 to10 feet tall and wide. Sun/part shade.
Epimedium (barrenwort)
Groundcover that reaches 12 to18 inches. Good fall color. Part/medium shade.
— Jerry Milewski, landscape architect, American Gardens Inc., Warrenville, Ill., 630-393-4000
2. Garden of delight
Phase 1: Remove both large Chinese elms and their root systems ($2,000).
Phase 2: Install the small seating area. If the couple is handy, they could remove the grass, add gravel and sand and lay the brick pavers ($300), otherwise allow $1,000.
Phase 3: Remove existing foundation shrubs; prepare the foundation planting beds and plant several of the larger shrubs there ($2,000).
Phase 4: Prepare and plant driveway bed ($1,800).
Phase 5: Prepare and plant area by young ash trees ($1,500).
KEY PLANTS
Malus ‘Sargent’s Crab’
This dwarf crab apple needs sun and a moist, well-drained soil. It features white flowers and long-lasting fruits.
Ilex ‘Blue Prince’
An evergreen holly with glossy foliage. Grows to 4 feet wide and 4 feet tall. Sun/-medium shade.
Rosa ‘Carefree Wonder’
A lightly fragrant, long-blooming rose that grows to 3 feet wide and 3 feet tall. Sun.
Viburnum carlessi compactum
A compact viburnum with highly fragrant flowers. Grows to 3 feet wide by 3 feet tall. Sun/part shade.
Euonymus coloratus (Purple-leaf wintercreeper)
A spreading evergreen groundcover that turns purple-red in fall. 6″ – 12″ Sun/Med. Shade
— Amy Reynolds, landscape designer, The Planter’s Palette, Winfield, 630-293-1040
3. A courtyard garden
Phase 1: Install new seating area and brick paver path ($4,650).
Phase 2: Remove foundation shrubs, prepare and plant foundation bed and inside fence ($2,500).
Phase 3: Install low decorative picket fence, prepare surrounding beds and plant ($2,825).
Phase 4: Remove grass, prepare L-shaped planting bed and plant as many plants as budget allows ($2,000).
Phase 5: Continue adding plants around seating area and in L-shaped garden ($1,900).
KEY PLANTS
Aesculus (bottlebrush buckeye)
Tropical looking leaves and large summer blooms on 6- to 8-foot shrubs. Sun/part shade.
Rosa ‘Knockout’
Deep rose flowers appear all summer on 2- to 3-foot shrubs. Sun.
Aronia ‘Brilliantissima’
This red chokeberry provides spectacular fall color on 3- to 4-foot plants. Sun/part shade.
Baptisia australis
This native produces blue flowers on a 3-by-3-foot plant. Winter interest. Sun.
Eupatorium ‘Gateway’
This late-flowering Joe Pye weed attracts butterflies. Grows to 5 feet. Sun/part shade.
— Jan Little, landscape architect, The Morton Arboretum Lisle, 630-719-2459
4. A private retreat
Phase 1: Remove one Chinese elm and its root system ($1,000).
Phase 2: Remove lawn; prepare beds by adding soil and mulch; plant about one-third of perennials ($3,000).
Phase 3: Add the rest of shrubs, perennials and ornamental grasses as budget allows ($1,800). Barczak recommends asking the arborist to chip the Chinese elm to save on cost of mulch.
KEY PLANTS
Amelanchier ‘Cole’s Select’ (Juneberry)
Blooms early spring, followed by tasty fruits. Fall color. Grows 20 to 25 feet. Sun/part shade.
Sporobolus (Prairie dropseed)
Fine-textured, native grass that sends up 2-foot-tall spires of flowers in August. Sun/part shade.
Taxus ‘Taunton’ (yew)
Slow-growing, hardy yew; 4 feet with reliable winter color. Sun/medium shade.
Rosa ‘Champlain’
Very hardy compact rosebush that reaches 3 feet wide by 3 feet tall. Sun/part shade.
Aster ‘Wood’s Purple’
A late-blooming perennial that makes a good cut flower. Grows to 1 foot. Sun/part shade.
— Joan Barczak, landscape designer, Blumen Gardens Inc., Sycamore, 815-895-3737
Making fear not a factor
Our experts share these ideas:
1. Check the views. Consider what you see from inside and from the street. Look out the front window. Do you enjoy the view or is something missing? Can others see inside? Do you need a screen for privacy or some ornamental trees to brighten the winter landscape?
2. Snap away. Take photos from windows that look onto the front yard. Take them from a variety of angles–across the street too. Lay tissue paper over them and “doodle” new planting beds.
3. Look at your plants. Are foundation plants overgrown, crowding your windows? Do existing plants offer multiseason interest? Do lonely specimen shrubs dot the front yard?
4. Make the arrival to your front door appealing. Is the pathway inviting? Does the front stoop comfortably and safely hold two or more people?
5. Consider multiseason accessories. Add planters or decorative urns, which enhance the architecture of your home, near the walkway or front door.
6. Do the big things first. Install hardscape (walkways, arbors). Put in expensive plants–trees, shrubs–next. Add perennials, ground covers last.
7. It’s a plan. Have a master plan and tackle only one small area at a time to avoid frustration. Make it as exquisite as your budget allows and move on to the next area the following season.
8. Check out “Front Yard Idea Book” by Jeni Webber (Taunton Press, 186 pages, $19.95 ).
— Nina Koziol
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What design would you pick for the O’Sheas’ house?
Tell us your favorite Front-Yard Fear Factor design: A Private Retreat (Joan Barczak), Garden of Delight (Amy Reynolds), An Elegant Entry (Jerry Milewski) or A Courtyard Garden (Jan Little). Include your name, address and daytime phone and what won you over (plants, hardscape, shape of beds, cost, other).
Send postcard vote to:
Home&Garden
Chicago Tribune
435 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
Send e-mail votes to: home&garden@tribune.com (put the designer’s name in the subject line)
One postcard and one e-mail entry will be picked at random to receive “Perennials All Season” by Douglas Green (Contem-porary Books, 296 pages, $34.95).
